PUERTO RICO - Research Paper Example

This paper proposes a court system for the newly found Puerto Rico state. There are various weaknesses that could be acknowledged out of the current judicial systems and this is as documented by Griffin and Abbot (2006). Understanding the strengths and the weaknesses would undoubtedly go a long way in informing what should constitute a desirable judicial system. One of the strong points in Griffin and Abbot (2006) is that they develop a comparative approach to judicial systems, and this approach is advantageous because it does not only give examples of flaws in practice that should be addressed, but also some strengths that could be adopted, such as by newly established states.

According to Griffin and Abbot (2006), U.S judicial system is constituted in a federal manner whereby each state within the federation has a different judicial system. Under the state court system, one is regarded innocent until proven guilty. This implies that the burden to prove one’s innocence lies with the state and not the person being accused. The system is made stronger because it is the responsibility of the state to find someone guilty thus making a person optimistic about their innocence prevailing.

Another aspect of this judicial process is that, a criminal is assured of a fair, quick trial as well as enjoy the privilege of being judged by jurists. This means that not a single judge can decide on one’s fate as it is the case in other countries. It also implies that a person who is innocent has all the evidence evaluated prior to making the sentence. These elements are undoubtedly the strong points of judicial systems and inform any benchmark to constitute a desirable court system such as for a new established state.

However, there is a limitation to this in the sense that much of the evidence may be suspended due to procedure. A cop collecting evidence must do so